The valves have never moved, but I am thinking its about that time just as a preventative maintenance.

I also have an extra set of plastics and some other odds and ends for it.

When do you all think an upgrade is needed? I've been feeling the itch to get onto a FI bike. I've ridden a few of my buddies (yam, honda, and kawi) and really like them. I travel a bit with my bike and think it would be good to go FI so i can do away with the need to rejet when I go down to family. I still enjoy the bike, but that itch is killing me.

So, what do you all think? upgrade time? If so, What do you think is fair to ask for my current bike? what years would you look into upgrading to?

By JTan314, Posted March 2, 2015

Just one more thing. I'm thinking I will likely look to the upgrade later this year if I decide to do it. going one more season on this one I think, then look when everyone starts getting rid of their old bikes around August.

By CRF rider, Posted March 3, 2015

I went from an 06 Honda 250F to a 14 450 and the difference was night and day. Besides the extra power, the chasis and handling felt amazing.

I think if you want a nimble and light feeling bike, an upgrade will fit the bill

By Ericyzf359, Posted March 3, 2015

The 2005-2008 crf 450 is hard to beat honestly for an all around package and still plenty competitive if i had to sell my newer bikes and was on a smaller budget i would get one for sure.

By coryf89, Posted March 3, 2015

my little brother had a stock 2009 crf450 EFI bike.... his kept up with mine and damn near beat me in a drag race down a wet sandy lake bed... talk about embarrassing.

By JTan314, Posted March 3, 2015

Thanks guys. Cory, I know that feeling haha, but think my run in like that with my buddy was because I am just slow haha. Been talking to my wife about it. Looks like she has given me the go ahead on one condition. Gotta wait til about July or August. We've got a baby on the way and both agreed that it's better to wait until we make sure that goes smoothly. Also wanting to wait cause I have a few job interviews coming up. Have an amazing job now, but been at it a while so it's time to look for new opportunities. Got an interview Wednesday with a great company at a different gold mine. Good opportunity but it'll force us to stay put. another interview at the end of March in the oil and gas industry in Salt Lake Utah. That's the one I want and things are looking good for it. But we would be moving if I got that so money may be needed. But I'm stoked to look at an upgrade later this year. Keep the comments/suggestions coming. Got a long time to mull it over and look around at bikes vs the cost of a complete rebuild.

By coryf89, Posted March 3, 2015

ill tell ya this right now regarding jobs... and relationships for that matter. something ive learned the hard way. the grass isnt always greener on the other side, in fact, it rarely is!!!!

good luck though.

By JTan314, Posted March 3, 2015

Well Cory, in my case I think it is. Of course that's what anybody would say. But I live in a town in the middle of nowhere for gold mining and I took this job as a stepping stone to get into oil and gas. The job I'm looking at moving for may be a pay cut, I honestly don't know, and may not have the same benefits, but quality of life outside of work is worth a lot for me. I currently live in the middle of Nevada and still have 4 hours a day of commuting to the site. That's a lot of time that I could spend with my wife and the baby that's on the way. And in my mind, time with family is always worth a lot and something that you can never get back.

By DamnitJuice, Posted March 3, 2015

Tanner, where in NV are you and what mine are you currently working at, and where do you ride? I escort tires from L.A. out to a few of the mines. As for bikes, i just picked up a '10 450 that had 10 hours at most, with WC rad braces, skid plate, and an FMF ti slip on. Paid $4k. Might pick up an identical bike with about 100 hrs that will see less use by my pops for trail riding,but dudes not sure on price yet.

Aa for asking price of your '06 id probably start at $3k.

By JTan314, Posted March 3, 2015

Names actually Jared haha. That's a killer deal on that '10. Need to find me something good like that. I work at Marigold Mine and live in Elko. I ride a lot of desert style and then there are small tracks in Wells, Battle Mountain, and Winnemucca. There are also some dunes in Winnemucca. Ya I was thinking but 3k with what I've seen other bikes round here going for.

By brucegregory, Posted March 3, 2015

I currently have a 08 and. 10 crf450 the carb bike is my favorite the fuel injected is nice and is more nimble. But it doesn't pull on top like the 08, if I picked one bike to keep it would be the 08,

By H4L, Posted March 7, 2015

my little brother had a stock 2009 crf450 EFI bike.... his kept up with mine and damn near beat me in a drag race down a wet sandy lake bed... talk about embarrassing.

The efi bikes are deceiving in how fast they really are since the motors make smoother usable power vs. the carb models. If you check your lap times like I did when I first picked up an fi model you'll be surprised as I was.

Owned 05 & 06 models (05-08 very similar) & would never go back to a carbed bike after owning & riding a FI model. Noticeably lighter & turn better in comparison to the carb bikes as well.

Jeremy Martin Leads the Charge for Wiseco Riders at Daytona Supercross
Christian Craig Turns in Career Best in 450 Competition
MENTOR, Ohio (March 13, 2018) – Jeremy Martin showed the way for Wiseco-sponsored riders in Saturday night’s Monster Energy Daytona Supercross presented by Honda. In a season marred by bad luck and misfortune, Martin put together a near flawless ride to earn his first Eastern Regional 250SX Class podium finish of the season.
Martin qualified eighth for the division’s annual visit to the World Center of Racing, finished fourth in his heat race, and came home second in the 250SX main event, missing his first win of the year by less than a second.

“It’s Daytona, a real man’s track.” said Martin who sits fourth in points. “It was the toughest race of the year as far as fitness. I had to slow down a little bit, halfway through the main. I was getting close to (race winner) Jordon (Smith) and I was starting to think about where I could make a move on him, then I made some mistakes and he got away from me. Couldn’t quite get close again, but it’s good. We’re on the podium and in contention for wins again. That’s something I haven’t been able to say in supercross in a while. We want to get wins and now we know it’s coming.”
Martin’s podium was a bright spot, but the rest of the event was rough for the GEICO Honda/Factory Connection squad. RJ Hampshire crashed hard in his heat race and had to be transported to a local hospital. He injured his back and ribs, but shoulder pain left him with the most concern.
“I felt good on the bike all day,” said Hampshire via his Instagram account. “Had some pretty good speed and my foot just slid off hitting my shifter in those rollers during that heat race. After seeing the pictures from the crash I’m very thankful I didn’t take a shot to my head. I have some fractures in my T3/T4 in my back and ribs. Also have some damage to my lungs which is why I’ll be spending a couple nights in the hospital. I’ll be getting some more checkups this week on the shoulder also.”
Cameron McAdoo, the third member of the team, was unable to compete at Daytona after being sidelined with a hand injury two races ago in Atlanta.
Across the paddock, in the premier 450SX Class, Christian Craig got the call to fill in for Team Honda HRC. With the team’s regular riders Ken Roczen and Cole Seely out with injuries, it was up to Craig to carry the load for the factory team, and the upstart rider didn’t disappoint.
The San Diego native was solid in both qualifying sessions, won his heat race and snagged the holeshot in the division’s main event. After relinquishing the lead to eventual winner Justin Brayton, Craig continued to show he was up for the challenge. The 26-year-old rider raced for second and third for most of the 20-minute-plus-one-lap feature before losing one more spot in the late goings to bring his No. 32 Honda CRF450R home fourth in the final rundown.

“I had a great week testing with the team,” commented Craig. “They came down to Florida right after Atlanta and I feel like we really improved. Just getting more time on the bike and getting more comfortable was huge. I started off race day feeling really good. My qualifying position didn’t really show it, but overall I was happy with my riding. It’s all about having fun out there, and man, that’s what I did tonight. I was up front in the heat race, fell to third, but then the two guys in front took each other out so I ended up winning. You can call it luck or whatever, but I just put myself in a good position to capitalize on people’s mistakes."
“I had a good gate pick and some confidence going into the main. I grabbed the holeshot and led for almost the first lap, but [Justin] Brayton got by me pretty quick. I stayed second for quite a while. I just rode my hardest and did my best. Unfortunately, a couple guys got by me so I ended up fourth. The track was so tough. This is only my second time racing Daytona and last year didn’t go well, so I really wanted to get some revenge this year. It’s better than the week before, but man, I was so close to a podium. I just need to keep putting myself in good positions and work on getting better each weekend.”
Monster Energy AMA Supercross rolls on this weekend when the series visits the “Gateway to the West” for its annual race at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. The 11th of 17 races on the 2018 supercross calendar will be televised live on FS1 Saturday, March 17, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 5 p.m. Pacific.
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I have a 03 450 that I just got and it runs great! I love my bike and am big on preventative maintenance. I have searched the threads on TT and have not found any descriptive threads on how to check valve clearance or adjust them. Just by looking at them, I can see that the intakes need to be shimmed and the exhaust valves can be adjusted quite easily unless one needs to be adjusted differently than the other.
I tried to do it last night, and lined up the marks on each side to get the piston to TDC to check adjustments and could not get any readings on tolerances on either the intake nor the exhaust. I moved the crank a little bit forward and got a .011 reading on the exhaust valves. I read in a thread that the spec was .011" for the left one and .014" in the right for the auto decompressor. The spec I am using for the intakes is .006" Are these specs correct? :excuseme:The only issue is that the adjustment for the exhaust valves is one and the same. Different from my KTM where you can adjust each valve individually.
No matter where the cam was on the intake valves, I could not get any readings. Does anyone have a thread, website, downloadable manual, or article on checking and adjusting valves in these beasts?

I am selling my 2007 Honda CRF 450-R which is set up for desert racing (Track/desert). It has an 18" rear tire with a heavy duty setup (see description for details). The bike screams and has a Tokyo mods carb mod with the 10x ignition mapping (currently set to a handlebar switch for smooth power and max power). Gas tank is a 3.2 gallon IMS dry break tank. V4 steering stabilizer included. Precision Concepts suspention, Bike is set up for 6'4" 175lb rider. Zero oil leaks and well maintained using a preventative maintenance method with the best new parts each time. Receipts for all items can be provided. About 20 hours on the rebuilt head. Carb just rebuilt. Starts cold in just 2-3 kicks. 100% reliable bike as long as you turn the gas on. Current CA Red sticker and original title.

I recently replaced water pump and seal after I noticed that my '02 CRF450R was spilling coolant on easy trail rides. After the water pump swap (which was successful), I noticed the same problem. It's interesting - the bike only spits coolant (I mean a LOT of coolant) after passing anything above 1/2 throttle. The bike makes this weird 'gurgling' noise, like trying to suck through a straw when your glass is almost empty. This is weird because I properly bled/ burped the radiators with coolant, and filled them to normal operating levels. The coolant spills through overflow hose.
anyways - I swapped the radiator because I thought maybe the bike was running hot. I purchased oversized radiators, bought a 1.6 radiator cap (with a temp gauge) and bought engine ice. The bike runs very very cool - the temp gauge allows me to see this. Still, the bike shoots coolant out of the overflow after going above half throttle, making the same weird gurgling noise when it does. Bike has all of its power, top end was replaced not too long ago.
I'm lost and don't know what is wrong with the cooling system in my bike. How do I make the bike stop shooting out coolant, and stop making the weird gurgle noise??? Any advice would help me!!! Thank you!